The Texans will have an additional tight end option beginning Thursday night. They activated Jordan Thomas off IR.

A second-year player acquired in the 2018 sixth round, Thomas has spent the entire regular season on IR. Thomas, who saw a cracked rib delay his sophomore NFL season, returned to practice last week.

The Mississippi State product started 10 games last season and played in 16. He caught 20 passes for 215 yards and scored four touchdowns as a rookie. Houston has seen Darren Fells deliver as a red zone option this season; his six receiving TDs already match the Texans’ single-season record. Adding Thomas to this mix stands to help Deshaun Watson, who will also get Will Fuller back tonight.

The Texans also promoted safety Jonathan Owens from their practice squad. Justin Reid and Mike Adams are out tonight, leaving Houston shorthanded on its back line. Houston waived defensive end Joel Heath and wideout Steven Mitchell to clear the necessary roster space.

The Texans made a flurry of roster moves to get down to 53 players today. Among the notable names that were cut was former Browns cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun. Boddy-Calhoun started at least seven games for Cleveland in each of the past three seasons, but couldn’t crack Houston’s roster after signing a one-year deal back in March.

Receiver Chad Hansen, a fourth-round pick of the Jets in 2017, was also let go. He’s bounced around the league ever since New York cut bait after just one season. Houston also cut ties with reserve pass-rusher Joel Heath. An undrafted rookie in 2016, Heath started 15 games for the Texans across his first two years in the league.

Demaryius Thomas‘ season is over. The Texans will place their No. 2 wide receiver on IR after he suffered an Achilles injury Sunday.

Interestingly, Kayvon Webster will head back to IR as well. The Texans just brought Webster off IR on Saturday but lost the cornerback during the game to a thigh injury. Houston also placed linebacker Brian Peters on IR and promoted wide receiver Steven Mitchell to the active roster from its practice squad.

Teammates from 2013-16 in Denver, Thomas and Webster’s Houston futures are uncertain. The Texans may well have been unlikely to keep Thomas on his lofty contract — which includes a non-guaranteed $14MM base salary in 2019 — before his injury, which is believed to be a torn Achilles. Now that he will have to undergo a significant rehab endeavor, the soon-to-be 31-year-old wideout likely will not be part of the 2019 Texans.

Thomas’ ninth NFL season will end with 59 receptions for 677 yards, the bulk of those coming with the Broncos, and five touchdowns. The 2010 first-round pick made four Pro Bowls between 2012-16 and amassed at least 900 receiving yards from 2012-17. He has not missed a game since early in the 2011 slate, having started 111 consecutive games since the start of the ’12 season.

The Texans added Webster late in the offseason. He ended up playing in just two games, suffering multiple injuries that will result in two separate IR stays this season. The sixth-year cornerback, who suffered a season-ending injury in 2017 as well, will be a free agent at season’s end.

Josh Gordon has run afoul with a new team. The Patriots plan to discipline the oft-embattled wide receiver during tonight’s Bills game, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter), with tardiness at the root of the trade acquisition’s latest issue. New England will play without Gordon for a period of time tonight, around a quarter or “several series,” per Rapoport. Gordon showed up late to the Patriots’ facility on Sunday before the team left for Buffalo, Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets. After Gordon rides the bench to start the game, Rapoport adds he’ll return to his normal workload tonight. This benching is part of the team’s effort to manage and work with the 27-year-old wideout, one who had rampant trouble in Cleveland on this and other off-field fronts. If Gordon was on a low-tolerance policy with the Patriots, this doesn’t help his cause.

Here’s the latest from the AFC on trade deadline eve:

Bruce Irvin and Karl Joseph are believed to be on the trade block during the Raiders‘ rebuild, and, perhaps unsurprisingly based on the way his season’s gone, so is cornerback Rashaan Melvin. The recently signed corner was a healthy scratch against the Colts on Sunday, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes (video link) Melvin is available for a trade. Melvin signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal but drew Jon Gruden‘s public scrutiny after complaining about his role on the Raiders and the coaching staff’s style earlier this season. Melvin, 29, was a well-regarded Colts starter at this point last season and almost certainly will not be part of the 2019 Raiders.

Broncos plans to trade Brandon Marshall, if that was ever the case, look to have hit a snag. The longtime Denver starting linebacker now has a bone bruise in one of his knees and will likely miss time because of it, Denver7’s Troy Renck tweets. Marshall, whose contract makes him far from a lock he’ll be on next year’s Broncos, surfaced in trade rumors over the weekend. One of the handful of Denver starting defenders left over from Super Bowl 50, Marshall has been a full-time starter since 2014. He signed an extension in 2016, but that deal includes a $9MM cap number next year. Rookie Josey Jewell has played well in part-time duty as well, and the Broncos could get an early look at the fifth-round pick as a starter if Marshall is forced to miss time.

Joey Bosa could make his season debut on Sunday. At least, the Chargers haven’t ruled it out. Anthony Lynn said it was possible Bosa plays in Week 9, per Eric Williams of ESPN.com. Lynn said Bosa was getting closer. He’s missed seven Bolts games this season because of a bruised left foot, an injury he aggravated before Week 1. Lynn added he’s not ruling Melvin Gordon out, either.

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day: